and landed there wednesday. japan controls the territory, but china and taiwan claim it as their own. immigration officials put five activists and two journalist on a plane to hong kong. the seven crew members are going back under the surveillance of japan's coast guard. they spent two days in detention in okinawa after landing on the island of uotsuri. prime minister noda decided to expel the activists and journalists without pressing charges. his administration has vowed to take specific measures to prevent similar incidents. no one lives on the senkaku islan islands. japanese government officials say documents show japan incorporated the islands into its territory in 1895. they say the senkakus are under japanese control, and na no issue of territorial sovereignty exists. china and taiwan began to claim the senkakus as theirs in the early 1970s after researchers

found potential petroleum resources on the continental shelf nearby. two years ago a chinese trawler collided with a japanese patrol boat near the islands. the skipper was deported. for a more in depth look into the issue, our colleague spoke with a professor from the university of tokyo. he's a specialist on japan/china relations. >> how should we interpret the japanese government's response to the latest incident? >> well, i suppose the japanese government wants to send the clear message that it doesn't want to make the problem any bigger. you know, the background to this is the fact that in 2004 the cabinet at the time did a very similar thing. they just sent back the chinese activists who landed on the senkaku islands and that was much appreciated by the chinese side. so by doing the same thing, the japanese government wants to

send a clear message to the chinese government that it wants the relationship to be more stable and wants to go back to the normalcy of the japan/china relations that it should be. >> what do you think led the hong kong activists to go to the senkaku islands in the first place? do you think the chinese government could be involved? >> well, i don't think the chinese government instigated the incident, but at least it did not prevent the activists from going. so by letting them go, i think they wanted to do two things. one was to send a message to the japanese side that it doesn't like what the japanese have been doing about the senkaku islands. the other is that they need some safety valve as it were to lower the pressure of nationalistic sentiments that is developing in the chinese society now. but another point we need to take note of is the fact that it wasn't the mainland activists, but it was the hong kong

activists. you know, china is going to have its party congress coming up very soon, and the civility of society is something that is very much treasured by the leadership of the time. therefore, i think they also want to send a signal to the chinese society and to the japanese side that they don't want nationalistic sentiments to flare up in china. they want the civility very much so. therefore, it was the hong kong activists and not the activists from mainland china. >> there's a difference in how the chinese government views them. >> yes. >> how do you think, then, this latest incident will affect bilateral relations? >> i suppose one point is how the chinese side will interpret the action by the japanese government this time. how well they can be united within the leadership. how well they can control the nationalistic sentiments in china. on the other hand on the japanese side, because of the

landing, certainly there will be some nationalistic sentiment on the japanese side to be aroused. what kind of form that will take in its expression is something that we need to look at from now on. >> government leaders also decided to take a dispute over a territory in the sea of japan to the international court o justice. the japanese call the islands takeshima, the south korean call them dock ckddokdo. south korean officials need to agree before the court will hear the case. >> translator: japan will propose to south korea that we settle the takeshima issue based on international law in a calm, fair, and peaceful manner by bringing the issue to the international court of justice for arbitration in the near future. >> he said japan regards south korea as an important member of the united nations. he appealed to the government in

seoul to allow the matter to be heard in court. foreign men ster gemma has summoned the south korean ambassador to inform him of the decision. south korean president bak made an unprecedented trip to the eyelets last friday. they say he entered the territory illegally and they summoned the japanese ambassador from seoul. this territorial dispute between japan and south korea has been going on for more than half a century. the takeshima or dokdo islands are located 150 kilometers northwest from shimane prefecture. there's two main eyelets and several dozen smaller rocks. the japanese government stated in 1905 that the islands fell under shimane's jurisdiction and named them takeshima. they adopted a ordinance in

2005, the 100th anniversary of japan's claim. they declared february 22nd the day the eyelets came under their jurisdiction and called it takeshima. south korean leaders is refuted the claim for many years. they took action to control the territory in 1954. members of the coast guard landed on the islands and started building several facilities. that same year japanese officials proposed that the two countries jointly take the matter to the international court of justice. the south koreans refused. they said no territorial dispute existed. in 1962 the japanese proposed for a second time to bring the case before the court. south korea again refused. japan's finance minister is hinting at the possibility of canceling some foreign exchange agreements with south korea. at a news conference on friday he announced he would postpone his planned visit to south korea later this month.

he was to hold talks with his south korean counterpart. >> translator: south korean president bak's recent moving are very disrespectful. the japanese people are deeply offended. >> azumi said he has to take all matters into consideration when discussing an expansion of a foreign exchange arrangement. a currency arrangement was set up back in 2005. the most recent arrangements were expanded last year to prevent a fall in the south korean currency. the agreement was made between the leaders of the two countries. azumi's comment indicates that the expanded portion of the foreign currency swap could end before it expires at the end of

october. a south korean foreign ministry spokesperson has dismissed the proposal to send it to the international court of justice. >> translator: the islands are unekwifl cali our territory. there is no territorial dispute. the proposal is obviously not worthy of consideration. >> cho stressed south korea will take stern measures against any provocation by japan. a professor is an expert on korean affair at the university of tokyo. earlier he spoke with nhk world's sherri ann. of justice not appealed to the since a treaty to normalize ties with south korea back in 1965. what drove the government to go to the court now? >> japan has long sought to resolve this issue through the international court.

however, they have refrained from doing so because they knew it could harm the relations with south korea, but because of the unprecedented visit to the island by president bak, government leaders decides decided it it was time for strong measures. remember that the two countries have different interpretations of the dispute over the islands. japan insists it's a matter of territory. why south korea sees it in relationship to japanese misdeeds due to the rule. so i think by taking this to the icj japan wants to make their stance much clearer to the international community. >> now, he's the first south korean president to visit the islands. of course, he must have known this could hurt bilateral relations, so why did he do it? >> let's look at the background. lee has been losing public support, and his administration has been weakened. so he wanted to regain political

support through this bid. also, his administration has suffered a bit of a diplomatic brain drain. he can't get sound advice on how to maintain good relations with japan. i think his bid also reflects his frustration over japanese attitudes towards the isssue of many korean women were forced to provide sexual services to japan soldiers during world war ii. it reflects his view that his influence in the japanese community is waning. he think if he maintains good relations with other countries, he can be a bit more rigid with japan. >> what do you think will happen after japan takes the matter to the international court of justice? >> i am positive that the south korean government will not back down. they've denied a territorial

dispute exists and said the island belongs to them. if japan takes steps such as altering the foreign currency swap, they could bring this dispute to the international community. the only way to resolve it would be to reinforce informal channels behind the scenes such as negotiations among its leaders. a south korean football player has learned the hard way that politics and sports do not mix. first park wu was barred from receiving his olympic brondz medal in london from displaying a politically charged banner. now the international olympic committee is investigating. the torfo korean football assoc maintains that park is innocent and his action was not premeditated. >> translator: the incident was not planned, not at all prepared.

i explained this to fifa. >> the secretary-general of the korea football association, kim joo-sung made the remarks after visiting the headquarters of football's governing body in zurich. he said he explained to fifa officials park's action after his team defeated japan in the bronze medal match on august 10th. the international olympic committee says making political statements cannot be accepted at the olympics. fifa will hold a meeting to consider south korea's explanation and then report its views to the international olympic committee. after the match park held up a banner with a message asserting south korea's sovereignty over a group of islands called dokdo in korean. they're called takeshima in japanese and are part of japan. two major japanese banks are

planning to extend additional loans to leading electronics maker sharp. the firm is in financial trouble due to poor sales and tv and other products. back in march sharp received to $830 million in investment from its business partner in taiwan. honhei is seeking to cut the amount after sharp's stock price plunged. the negotiations are still going on. under the circumstances sharp's main banks plan to support sharp by providing additional loans worth about $830 million as a stop gap measure. the two banks consider sharp an important firm for japanese industry. they're trying to support the firm's efforts to support the liquid crystal display businesses. sharp is discussing the sale of the tv assembly plants in china and mexico to it's taiwanese

business partners. u.s. authorities have delay the resumption of beef imports from japan citing concerns over the fallout from last year's nuclear crisis. japan suspended beef exports to the u.s. in april 2010 after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the southwestern prefecture. exports were due to resume saturday, but u.s. authorities postponed their approval on thursday. they asked for additional information on japanese measures to detect radioactive contamination linked to last year's nuclear accident. officials from japan's agriculture ministry say the country's beef is safe for consumption. they say radioactive substances in the meat are below official safety limits. australia plans to spend some 50 million u.s. dollars over the next four years trying to draw more tourists from asia, especially from china. >> with this increased budget, the new marketing activities will build on the strong platform that tourism in

australia currently has through there's nothing like australia campaign and in many ways already achieved in the asian market as reflected in the figures in more recent years. >> australia had 58,000 visitors from china in the 12 months through june this year. that's up 16% from the preceding 12-month period. to lure more tourists from china, australia plans to step up pr activities in inland regions in addition to major cities like beijing and shanghai. a u.s. think tank says north korea may be a lot closer to obtaining a nuclear arsenal than earlier thought. the institute for science and international security says pyongyang could possess up to 48 nuclear weapons by the end of 2016.

the institute issued a report titled "north korea's estimated stocks of pollute tolutonium an weapon-grade uranium." they say they have enough to make at least six nuke bar bombs. it says construction work on a light water nuclear reactor may be completed by late next year, but the report says it has yet to be confirmed if the facility is used to produce plutonium. it says it's not known if north korea has one or more plants that can produce enriched uranium. they estimate by the end of 2016, the north may possess enough weapons-grade plutonium and uranium for 14 weapons and a maximum of 48. the report calls on the united states and its allies, including japan, to boost cooperation to prevent future nuclear development by the north. a series of car bombings and shootings have killed more than

70 people across iraq. the violence occurred toward the end of the muslim holy month ramadan. it underscores the difficulties authorities are having in containing the insurgency. four car bombs ripped through the administrative district of the northern city of kirkuk on thursday. at least two died and about 20 were injured. the victims included civilians who came to market to prepare for the end of ramadan on the weekend. groups allegedly affiliated with al qaeda and sunni muslim extremists have continued to carry out attacks around country since u.s. troops withdrew from iraq last december. more than 150 people have been killed this month alone. japanese kamakazi suicide squads crashed into enemy ships one after another in the closing

days of world war ii. commanders ordered the crew of the battleship to okinawa with virtually no air cover. thousands of sailors died. now a man who followed the battle as it happened is trying to find out why the orders went out. nhk world has his story. >> i'm at the foot of a small hill on a campus of a university in yokohama. behind this door lies a massive underground trench that stretches over 1 kilometer in length. near the end of the second world war, thrp tis was the former headquarters of the combined fleet. members of the public can now tour the once secret command center six to seven years after the war ended. it's a huge next work of bunkers

reinforced with concrete. >> translator: i had no idea tunnels like this existed. i learned a lot. >> this 88-year-old worked in the underground trench. he was a junior naval officer at the end of the war. >> translator: desks were lined up right here, and many radio operators were working with headphones. >> he had been a university student at the institute where the command center was located. he was assigned to the communications room. his job was to receive telegraph messages from the front line and report them to his superiors. >> translator: i spoke to no one. it wasn't allowed. climbing up and down the 126 steps and going in and out of the communications room, that's all i remember. >> but has another vivid memory,

the sinking of the yamato. it was the world's largest battleship and the pride of japan's navy. in april 1945 navy command ordered it to head for okinawa to stop the allied invasion. the war was no going badly for japan. lacking air cover, it was at the mercy of u.s. bombers. it sank with 3,000 soldiers and officers on board. he delivered a minute by minute account of the sinking to his superiors. >> translator: yamato was bombed and torpedoed. they had no emotion whatsoever. receive radio messages, put them together and report. that was it. >> six months after being assigned to the command center, he was told the war was over. he was stunned. >> translator: empty, just empty. i couldn't accept that the war had finally ended.

>> after the war he became a hard-working company employee. this was the era of economic growth. the underground bunker was forgotten. the memories resurfaced after he retired. the former radio operator started questioning the events of the war. one thing to know, what happened above ground. he poured over documents and records anxious to know why japan had to wage that war. he was beginning to think he shared responsibility. >> translator: i just can't help blaming myself for what happened. after all, it was the command that issued unilateral orders. >> he began putting down his thoughts on paper. he has written close it to 60 essays. they explain how the war ended

so many lives, so many drieams for the future. milita militaries ruled the whole nation of jap durian during the. no other idea was tolerated. it was an era of madness. we lived at the time when japan plunged into a senseless war. our most valuable base was sacrificed. >> we should never, ever let a war be waged again. i feel strongly i must han down my message to as many people as i can. >> he distributes copies of the essays to his friends. proper exposure he believes can stop it from happening again. christina gunn, nhk world, yokohama. >> a very poignant story indeed.

you're watching "newsline." this is the world weather. >> we have been monitoring a storm system over south china sea. this is the kit aak, which has made landfall over the western coast. it's right now hanoi and hinan. in hinan we have a report of in excess of 300 millimeters of accumulation in the past 24 hours due to this storm, so drenching amount of rainfall will be tracking towards northern vietnam. could be targeting the capital city here, so urban flooding is going to be a very primary threat. it's going to be at very high risk. also, due to the storm surge from this storm system both combined could bring some coastal flooding issues so people in these vicinities should take precautions. we'll keep a very close eye on this system. the amount of rainfall accumulation in the next 72 hours could be as much as 200

millimeters in and around hanoi. so really do want to be watching out for that. across much of japan here, we're going to be seeing a lot of thunderstorms to erupt. it's going to be a pop-up thunderstorm scattered across the island chain, and especially in the evening hours. we'll be continuing into our saturday. looks like we're getting wet and thunderstormy weather for our weekend. not good news, but on sunday we have a pacific high that will be pushing into twarsd the country making things much drier for us. however, that means that that will be blocking the severe weather across much of the korean peninsula and into northeastern china. not good news for that area. tornadic activity cannot be ruled out. the primary threats being damaging winds, hail, and also very locally heavy downpours.

temperature-wise tokyo at 30 degrees. by early next week that should be cooling down into the normal territories. moving over to the americas now, with the cold front, which is very strong, heading towards the eastern seaboard, along and ahead of this will be the area that will be fired with some thunderstorm eruption, especially with the surge of moisture from this gulf of mexico in and around the gulf states across these regions. we'll probably see very locally heavy downpours and hail of the size of a golf ball to tennis ball size could also be some primary hazards. across northern texas, some of these rains could be beneficial to the drought-stricken regions. however, the localized heavy downpours in a very short time could trigger some flash flooding. very cool air will reside here

over the weekend, however in the wake of that still heating at 36 in portland. here in the european continent, things are self-explanatory if i show this. the south is very hot, and over towards the north cooler and very wet conditions. the british isles may see showers which could be heavy at times. temperatures are soaring in paris at 35 degrees, and madrid is 9 degrees above your average. here's our extended forecast.

for more news, just logon to our website. from all of us here at "newsline," thanks for watching.

>> california's gold is produced in association with kcet los angeles and is seen statewide on california public television. this series is endorsed by-- well, here we are in san diego harbor. we are looking across the bay at the uss nimitz, the big old aircraft carrier, which is docked there over on coronado island. of course, there's a huge navy presence here in san diego.